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Whenever I get the chance to visit another country, I will as a numismatist try to visit some of the interesting sites related to this subject area. The last time I was in Japan was exactly 2 years ago, visiting Osaka and the Osaka Mint. So my visit to the biggest city in Japan is no exception. There are three places you can visit to whet your appetite for numismatic knowledge, and the BEST part if that entry is FREE OF CHARGE. They are :

I will cover these visits in 3 separate parts in my blog, starting with the National Printing Bureau's (NBP) banknote printing factory in Nishihagara district of Tokyo.

The National Printing Bureau is the security printing arm of the Bank of Japan and it is responsible for the design and printing of Japan's banknotes, stamps and passports. It currently operates 4 separate printing facilities in Tokyo, Odawara, Shizuoka and Hikone. Each of them do offer their own guided tours and information on the tours can be found at their website here : http://www.npb.go.jp/en/news/tour/index.html

IMPORTANT : WHAT YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Keep in mind that this is a HIGH SECURITY FACILITY. You cannot just walk in as and when you like. You will need to PRE-REGISTER for the tour up to 2 or 3 MONTHS BEFORE YOU ARRIVE. These tours are quite popular and there is a limit to the number of persons allowed in, so I recommend that you register as soon as the dates open up. And if you are a foreigner (i.e. if you are NOT a Japanese citizen), you will be asked for some ID - which in this case, you need to show them your PASSPORT. Do please bring it along with you, else you may not be allowed to enter. You can find the online registration formhere.

TOUR DAYS AND TIMES
The NBP offers a guided tour of the banknote printing facilities and there are 4 tours in a week, 2 on Tuesdays and 2 on Thursdays, 10:00am and 1:40pm respectively. The tour lasts for about 1.5 hours.

LANGUAGE
The bad news is that the tours are conducted entirely in Japanese. BUT if you are lucky enough like me, you may get a tour guide who speaks some English.

LOCATION & GETTING THERE
The Tokyo plant is located near the Nishihagara Metro train station (Namboku line). It is about 25 to 30 minute ride from Tokyo Station. The main entrance to the facility is right next to Nishigahara Station exit. If you are coming from Kami-Nazakato Station, you expect a 20 minute walk around the huge facility to get to the entrance, which I found out the hard way!

Map 1 : Location of the NBP Printing Facility in relation to downtown Tokyo - less than 10km away, 30 mins by train.

Map 2 : Take the train to Nishigahara Station, it is next to the factory

THE TOUR
On the day of the tour you will be required to present you form and show your ID at the front gate. They will then lead you to a briefing room and you will given a locker key and deposit all your bag and mobile phone/camera or any recording device before the plant tour. You are NOT ALLOWED to take photos or video on the plant tour. We walk onto a balcony with glass windows on one side that was opaque when we walked in and the tour leader gave the order to "open" the window, the window magically became transparent and we could see all the action on the factory floor at the time. There were guys moving around preparing large sheets of paper ready to be fed into the printing machines that are about 100 feet in length. The tour will be followed by a visit to their exhibition center, which you can take photos there.

NO REPLACEMENT NOTES?
For collectors and numismatist one of the important "mysteries" is that why we cannot find any replacement notes in Japan. In Malaysia, replacement notes are typically those banknotes with a first letter "Z" in their prefix. These are notes that replace the damaged or erroneous ones during the printing process. But for Japan, there are no such thing as Z notes!

So I took the opportunity to ask the question on how does NBP handle error notes in the printing process? It seems that their policy is to reprint the note with the same serial number and slot them into the stack! If there are more than certain number of notes in the stack that are erroneous, the whole stack is reprinted.

Which come to think of it, is not surprising. This is Japan we're talking about, these guys are the pioneer of high quality manufacturing concepts like TQM or Total Quality Management! Their culture taking great pride in their work and their attention to details are legendary. These guys are the ones who gave the world Toyota cars back in the days when car breakdowns are a everyday occurrence.

Another way of looking at the issue is that the process may very well have been designed to PREVENT ERRORS in the first place, because the cost of reprint is high and should be avoided as much as possible. If the rate of error is low, the total cost of production can be kept low, it all depends on the rate of errors.

Technically speaking there are "replacement notes" it is just that you can't tell if it has been replaced or not because it has the same serial number of the damaged or erroneous ones. But that it not to say there are no damaged or erroneous notes in Japan - there is no 100% perfect manufacturing process in this world and I did see some at the coin show when I was there but my impression is that they are quite rare given the stringent quality controls at the NBP.

HIGH QUALITY WATERMARK
One thing you will notice is that the watermark on the Japanese Yen is that they are exceptionally fine in detail. The lines are very intricate and the resolution of the image is superb. Below is the comparison between the 1,000 Yen with Malaysia's 100 Ringgit :

Comparison of Watermarks

CONCLUSION
This is my first time touring a banknote printing facility and it was a real eye opener. Save for 3 major areas, the Japanese banknote printing in principle is quite similar to the rest of the world, at least at the high level. Whilst they did go thru the printing process, a lot of the finer, technical details are intentionally left out for obvious reasons. The best part of this whole visit - is that it is FREE OF CHARGE and their staff exceptionally friendly and helpful.

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE NBP STAFF
While the tour management team do not speak English at all, they were extremely polite, considerate and completely helpful. Three of us (including my wife and daughter) were the only foreigners in the tour of about 40 persons. And I could tell that they struggle to make us feel comfortable and ensuring we are well taken care of despite the language differences. They even had a colleague from another department who speaks English to help us understand what was going on! For that we are extremely grateful and will always remember NBP for their hospitality.

Next we visit the NBP's Banknote & Stamps Museum which is located one train stop away from this facility.

COMING SOON - Part II.

Fig 1. Main gate of NBP facility with the Nishigahara Station exit right next to it.

Fig 5. The paper for the banknotes are made from local plants and not from cotton paper like that of other countries.

Fig 6. The Japanese banknotes paper are made from Mitsumata and Abaca plants that are said to be more resistant to wear and tear

Fig 7. Paper making process

Fig 8. Ink making process, a closely guarded secret. Note the texture of the ink is very thick / viscous.

Fig 9. Types of ink and color used for the printing

Fig 10. Next is the plate making process. This is the master plate and the engraver's tools

Fig 11. The master plate is used to create the printing plate with multiple copies of the note.
For Japan's case it is 4x5 configuration

Fig 12. The printing plate in 4x5 configuration

Fig 13. The printing process, these are huge machines of up to 100 feet in length and able to exert 3 tons
of pressure for the intaglio printing.

Fig 13. Partially printed banknotes

Fig 14. These are the holographic "stickers" for the banknotes

Fig 15. Finally the serial number is printed and this is the completed sheet

Fig 16. A close up of the completed sheet

Fig 17. Sorting an cutting the sheets into bricks and stacks

Fig 18. Wrapping and labeling

Fig 19. Wrapping in blocks after cutting

Fig 20. First of a series of charts on the history of NBP. That guy on the top right is Edoardo Chiossone,
an Italian design for the first series of banknotes in Japan back in 1868, at the height of the Meiji Restoration

For those of you who collect Malaya/Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei coins and banknotes, you must have heard of the name "Saran Singh" before. He is perhaps Malaysia's most prolific numismatic writers. His books are more than just catalogs of numismatic collectibles, they chronicle the historical aspects of the numismatic artifacts as well, which makes all the difference as a result his books are highly sought after by serious collectors and numismatic researchers.

To honor his achievements and contributions to the numismatic community, we have compiled the full list of his books on Malaysian numismatics for your reference. For those who collect numismatic literature, this will be a useful guide on what's out there. There are a total of 8 books listed, arranged in chronological order and we have assigned reference numbers GC1 to GC8 for these highly sought after items.We have included useful information such as release date and the price of the book at the time is was issued. Other key data such as size and dimension and weight of the books are also included.

All of these books are available for reference at the alphaNumis Coin & Banknote Library and Gallery, Shah Alam, Malaysia. These took us several years and with the help of fellow collectors from around the world to assemble the complete set of these books. In fact 2 of these books were acquired overseas - one from the United States and another from Switzerland.

If you wish to visit the library, do feel free to contact us at help@alphanumis.com or message us at +60 12 318 3042.

Note : Special thanks to Mr. Saran Singh himself & Mr. Steven Tan for graciously allowing me to interview both of them in September 2017.

Back in mid April 2017, I was contacted by an official from Bank Negara Malaysia (the Malaysian Central Bank). The call was from none other than the curator of the Numismatic Museum of Bank Negara himself, inviting me to conduct a seminar on numismatic grading. Of course I agreed to do it without any hesitation whatsoever! Mainly because it is indeed an honor and privilege to receive such an invitation from the best numismatic museum in the country! The event was scheduled for 20 May 2017, 2:30 p.m. at the auditorium at Sasana Kijang, Kuala Lumpur and the duration is expected to be 2 hours. With about 6 weeks to go I immediately set about preparing the content of the seminar.

For a start - why talk about numismatic grading and not any other topics? For most people numismatic grading equals to graded coins or banknotes stored in slabs of plastic with the grading company logo and a number between 1 to 70 indicating the grade. But grading is much more than just a number, it is a important aspect in determining the value of the collectible that every collector and numismatist must learn and understand. Failure to do so will increase the risk of overpaying for something, especially when acquiring ungraded / "unslabbed" items.

Fig 2. Opening slide for the seminar

The main objective of the seminar was to provide a high level view of the numismatic grading and its origins, while trying to keep the technical aspects of it at a minimum - which many perceive to be difficult to learn. It is hoped that attendees will come away from the seminar being able to make sense of grading and what it means to the collector.

Fig 3 : Grading a coin ....

Fig 4 : Relationship between grade and value

Fig. 5 : BNM's invitation letter & momento.

Fig. 6 : The very "rare" Asia School of Business commemorative silver coin
(Although not officially stated I have been told that there are only 100 minted)

Fig. 7 : The reverse of the commemorative coin

With a total of 126 presentation slides, packed with vital information, the seminar did generate some interest in grading, resulting in a question and answer session which lasted more than 1 hour. We wish to record our thanks and appreciation to Bank Negara Malaysia Numismatic Museum for organizing such an event that promote the hobby of numismatics. It is indeed a honour to be amongst the select few who has been invited to speak at the MAG Theatre of Sasana Kijang.

Fig. 9: Technical specifications for the Asia School of Business (ASB) Commemorative silver coin 2016.

Fig 8. Logo of ASB. Source : http://www.asb.edu.my/

To top off this honour, I was presented with a momento from BNM as a token of appreciation - and much to my surprise it turned out to be the much sought after "Asia School of Business" commemorative silver coin. This coin was never issued to the public, which makes it difficult to obtain for the average collector. While not officially stated, I have been told that only 100 of these coins were minted. It was released on 23rd February 2016 to coincide with the ground breaking ceremony for the new campus building that was officiated by our then BNM Governor Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz. The Asia School of Business is a collaboration between BNM and MIT Sloan School of Business, one of the top business schools in the United States.

The Asia School of Business offers Master in Business Administration (MBA) courses here in Kuala Lumpur - being one of the top schools in the world, its fee is certainlynot cheap! This world class 20 month full time course will set you back by RM265,000 for Malaysian students and RM365,000 (USD85,000) for international students.

The official press release from BNM for the ground breaking event can be found here.

And of course it does not end here, we are planning for more seminars in the near future. The new seminars will be announced via our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/alphanumis

This piece that just came in for "an inspection" made my day. This is an 11th series Malaysian banknote of 10 Ringgit issued in the year 2000 duly signed by our governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

At first glance it definitely looks like a genuine error note with 4 missing digits on the reverse right corner. The serial number format for these notes is a 2 letter prefix followed by 7 digit numbers.

Shortly after Saran Singh's "The Encyclopaedia of Dry Rubber Export Coupons : Malaya, Ceylon & Netherlands East Indies 1922-1942" was officially launched in January 2017, I received an email invitation from Mr. Y. H. Hsien expressing his excitement about the book and invited Saran & myself to visit his exhibition titled "Ridley & the Rubber Industry" at the library of the Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG). After several email exchanges I decided to make a trip to SGB while I was in Singapore for the Singapore International Coin Fair 2017 (24-26 March 2017). Unfortunately Saran could not make it for the trip due to some commitments.

Mr. Y. H. Hsien is a private collector of stamps, coupons and ephemera related to the economic and social history of Malaya and Singapore for over 30 years. He is the council member of the Singapore Stamp Club and an active volunteer of the the National Library and National Archives of Singapore. This exhibition is a collaboration between SBG's Library of Botany & Horticulture and and Mr. Y.H. Hsien.

Of all the dignitaries throughout the entire human history, Queen Elizabeth II's portrait has appeared on the most number of banknotes from countries across all the continents on this planet. Her image appear on Canadain banknote when she was as young as 8, then Princess Elizabeth, before her uncle abdicated, making her father the King of England, hence making her the next in line for the throne.

The Washington Post did a wonderful piece on QE2 and the author summarized it rather neatly in an infographic potraying the countries and years of which QE2 appeared on their banknotes. All in there are 33 countries involved since her ascension to the throne in 1953. And today, less than half of those countries still retain her portrait.

The 2017 Chinese New Year is just around the corner. We wish all fellow collectors and numismatist a very prosperous new year ahead and may you find what you seek for your collections.

The Chinese New Year (of the Lunar Calendar), also know was Spring Festival (春節) in China, is widely celebrated throughout East Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. In Malaysia, we get 2 days off and most ethnic Chinese folks will travel to their home towns for the reunion dinner with their families on the new year eve, followed by 15 days of celebration, visiting friends and relatives, with lots of feasting and gift giving.

Speaking of gifts, one of the most prominent practices during this period is the giving of 紅包 (hong bao) or "Ang Pow" meaning "red packets". These are essentially decorative red colored envelopes filled with money, given to unmarried children by parents and also to all the children of their friends and relatives whom we visit or even bumped into! As a child, we all grew up looking forward to receiving them during the new year and would most probably spend them on sweets, toys and fire works, despite our parents advising us to save the money!

Curious as to where and how did this practice came to be, we did a little research of our own.

As expected, there are several versions as to the origins of Ang Pow.

It is commonly believed that during the Sung Dynasty (宋朝) era in China (A.D. 960-1279), in a village called Chang-Chieu a huge demon used to terrorize the villagers once every year. No warrior can defeat it. Then along came a young orphan, armed with a sacred sabre inherited from his ancestors fought this evil demon and defeated it. Grateful for this noble deed, the villagers presented the young lad with red packets filled with money in it as a reward.

Interesting no doubt but some how it does not sound very convincing, the story is far too simple to be believable right? .... the good news is that there is an alternative version to this, which happens to be our favorite, the story goes like this :

In ancient times, they were not called Ang Pows, the name only came in to use only in the last century or so. During the early Ching Dynasty era (1644 - 1911), they were called 壓歲錢 (ya sui qian), translated it means "lucky money" but the literal translation sounds more intriguing - 壓 (ya) means to press or put pressure on something, 歲 (sui) means age in years and 錢 (qian) means money.

So why such a weird name you ask? Legend has it that in ancient times, there were little demons called 祟 (sui), with dark body and white hands that goes around harming little children during the night before the Chinese New Year. Note that the sound of the word 祟 (sui) is akin to 歲 or 睡 also pronounced as sui, meaning age or to sleep.

These little demons (and mind you there are hundreds of types of demons in Chinese mythology) would roam the cities and villages late at night, they put their hand on a sleeping child's forehead and a bout high fever will ensue and they will be eventually become mentally ill for life.

Needless to say, parents are worried about these little creatures, they encourage their kids of stay up all night since the demons can only harm sleeping children. One family strung together 8 pieces of coins for their child to play in attempt to keep him awake. Unfortunately the child was too tired and fell asleep and the parents put the string of 8 coins under the child's pillow and decided to stay up all night with candles lit to keep watch over their precious little one. But they too, fell asleep ..... a gust blew off the candle.

A string of ancient Chinese coins

The little demon sneaked into the room with glee and as its white hands reaches out to touch the poor child's forehead, the glittering coins startled the little devil which shrieked and ran away as fast as it could, thus the coins have saved the child from harm.

Those were obviously brilliant uncirculated coins!

It was later revealed that the coins were a physical manifestation of the famous 8 deities or 8 immortals (八仙) in Chinese mythology. And so word got around that we should put a string of coins under the pillow to protect our children from harm. So giving coins to children is to protect them from sickness and we've been practicing it ever since.

The glittering coin scared off the little demon

Nice ending right ?

Do note that in the story, the glittering coins that the parents used must has been in Brilliant Uncirculated condition! Which also explains why til this very day we insist in getting uncirculated banknotes to put into our red packets!

This book was just won the IBNS Book of the Year 2016 award from the
International Banknote Society (IBNS). This is the first time a Malaysian
publication has won this prestigious international award. Hearties congratulations
to Mr. Saran Singh and the publication team.

After about a year of working closely with Mr. Saran Singh, the book is finally launched, much to our relief. The episode started when I met with Saran quite by accident and he was talking about the book project he was working on and he need some assistance with researching on certain area of rubber export coupons. So one thing led to another and we ended up doing not just the research and fact check but also designed the entire book and its layout.

Now everyone who is into numismatics will know who the man is. For the uninitiated, he is a well known numismatic writer who as published no less than 6 books on Malaysian numismatics. His earliest publication going as far back as 1978.

Below are some of the slides displayed at the book launch event along with some of the pages of the book, including the table of contents.

We're back! From a long absence because we were working on a book project with Mr. Saran Singh. Now that the book has been published and launched, we can do go back to our usual "business".

For our first blog posting of 2017, we have a interesting piece of a forgery note - a Straits Settlements $10 note, dated 1 January 1935. We believe is may be a contemporary forgery (due to the apparent ageing of the paper), which means that it as created at the time when these notes were legal tender and in active circulation.